News

Kate Debbo has always loved to paint, but says that it took her a very long time to build up the courage to do it as a career. “After travelling for a few years, I went to art school but dropped out after a year and a half to continue travelling. In that time, my husband and I fell pregnant and after having a second baby, I never found the gap to return to my studies. So I am mainly self-taught. I have always managed to carve out a space to paint, no matter where in the world we have been or how small the space.”
After immigrating to Australia 8 years ago, Kate had a ‘now or never’ wake-up call and took the leap to paint professionally. Now living and working in the beautiful regional town of Margaret River, WA, she paints in “a very messy corner of the lounge. We are in the process of building a tall tin shed for me in our garden, which will be a dream come true! I couldn’t create my work without my super supportive family who put up with my mess (mentally and physically) while I build my art career.”
Kate is endlessly inspired by her interpretation of things she has seen, absorbed and remembered throughout each day. “For me, the magic is in the making.”
“I begin each new work terrified of the white canvas, so I’ve learnt to just make random and/or more decisive marks until the fear disappears and the picture takes over! Destroying most of what I make and then reviving parts of it seems to be a huge part of my creative process. Each piece is only what it is because of what lies beneath the layers of ‘mistakes’. I use long sticks and both my hands to manipulate the oil paint.”
“My works are made from memory and imagination because I want to paint an emotional response rather than a direct observation. My horse series is a lot more controlled by me – the animals appeared in some of my paintings as a symbol of the link between our domestic, tamed roles and something more magical and nostalgic. I am endlessly inspired by the everyday contrasts, absurdities and twists in the tale and through my work I hope to engage the viewers’ imagination and spark a sense of identification and resonance.”
When describing her career highlights, Kate says that every small step in the journey feels like a highlight. “From gaining commissions, exhibiting alongside inspiring artists, participating in art prizes, joining exciting galleries and just getting to be a practicing artist makes me feel incredibly lucky!
 
See Forman’s range of stunning Kate Debbo works here!

Read more

Rachael Little has been creating from a young age. She studied Visual Arts and Fine Arts at Melbourne University. Over the years she has worked in ceramics studios and taught ceramic painting.

Along with art, flowers have always played a large part in Rachael’s life. She worked as a florist for 10 years and flowers, foliage and garden landscapes continue to provide her with constant inspiration.

Rachael has been creating from a young age and it’s something she describes as “calming and truly relaxing”. She works from her home studio in Melbourne, “with three kids and a bit of family chaos thrown in for good measure.” The studio looks onto a garden she created with her husband 15 years ago. Some parts of the garden are structured and layered and other parts are whimsical and flowing - something that is reflected in her own paintings.

When painting, Rachael rarely starts with a set plan. Instead, she works spontaneously, loosely painting from her memory and imagination. Her paintings are built up in layers with loose patterns.

Colour is extremely important to Rachael, as can be seen in her bright and joyful works. “Matching colours, clashing colours and blended colours – sometimes I do it all in the same painting! I want people to feel joy whenever they walk past these artworks, and to find something new each time they look at them.”
 
See Forman's range of beautiful Rachael Little works here!

Read more

Marika Borlase likes to paint an individual response to her experience of landscape. Her paintings are a fusion of abstraction and detail that embodies a sense of dreamlike other worldliness to the land she references.

Read more

As a child, Nunzio Miano loved drawing portraits of family members. He has fond memories of his grandmother and great uncle and aunt visiting from Sicily, when he would spend hours getting them to pose for him while he drew their portrait.
 
Nunzio now has a career as a retail creative director, which he absolutely adores, along with his “passion job” of creating art. “My two passions go hand in hand and feed each other. I get to use my brain and work with a bunch of talented people commercially, but I also need that alone time to express myself on canvas.”
 
When creating art, Nunzio usually works from his home. “I have the music pumping and have the time of my life. Depending on my mood, it’s either house music or old Sicilian love songs. It’s either a dance party or a meditative calm time in the studio.”
 
Nunzio draws on a range of sources for inspiration, from people, his thoughts, his childhood and his Sicilian heritage. “I love film, fashion, design, architecture, interiors and branding. I can’t get enough of it, and I guess that all goes into the big melting pot of inspiration.”
 
The creative process always changes for Nunzio, sometimes he plans paintings on paper, other times the plans are in his head. Sometimes he simply starts painting and it emerges. Nunzio mostly paints portraits, working predominantly with acrylic paint as it allows him the flexibility he needs in his painting techniques.
 
“I get a little deep and am always exploring emotional concepts. I’ve always been intrigued by humanity’s need to belong to tribes or cultures. The need to be loved and liked, to be popular and the need for approval. The faces depicted are quite emotional, portraying themes of despair, sorrow, desperation. While these themes can be quite dark, they are usually in bright, joyful colours. I love that contrast.”
 
See Forman’s range of Nunzio Miano works here.

Read more

Emma works from Commonfolk Studios on the Mornington Peninsula and has been a resident artist there since 2015. “My studio is full of plants and drawings of my cat. I share this studio space with two other artists – silversmith, Kate Macindoe and potter, Nicole Lotscher. It’s nice having the company of other creatives and we bounce ideas off each other too, which is always helpful! It is a really fun place to work, with the best coffee ever (although, I am probably a bit biased)!”
Emma has always created art and she can’t remember a time when she didn’t draw or paint, so art was a natural choice of study and career for her. She completed a Visual Arts degree where her focuses were figure and anatomy drawing, painting, printmaking and interdisciplinary design. “I had the best time ever at uni and it really developed and expanded my practice. I have learnt under some reputable contemporary artists, which is always humbling and inspiring. You can gain so much from your teachers and peers around you, no matter how different their artistic brains work. I also studied Interior Design at RMIT, which I enjoyed (I also learnt a lot about making homewares from this!), but halfway through I realised that I really just wanted to draw possums rather than choose bathroom fittings. So I stopped studying to pursue art again… sorry Mum!”
Working predominantly in fineliner and watercolour, Emma likes to draw her pieces large onto cotton rag papers, after which they are scanned and reproduced. “I’m a huge fan of artists like Goya & Durer, more so for their etching / drawings works, as well as their depiction of animals. I found I could reinterpret the aesthetic of an etching (which I love a lot!), by drawing with various sizes of fine pens, which I think makes my work much more contemporary. Drawing also allows for more flexibility with scale. I make a small range of textile products that I also treat as artworks and sew myself. I really enjoy sewing and working with fabrics and trims; it allows me to have another way of displaying my artworks.”
When considering the highlights of her creative career, Emma describes a trip to Northern Thailand to volunteer with rescued elephants and her following exhibition of drawings dedicated to the cause. “I made some of my most ambitions artworks through that, and spread the message of a cause I really believe in, and that I think everyone can get behind.”
“The goal for me is a combination of capturing animals in a unique, honest and respectful way that anyone can enjoy and take as much or as little as they like from. I also try to establish a friendly connection between creature and viewer, as the social context of animals is always something that has really interested me. I want people to care about wildlife and nature as much as I do, and hope to inspire this in others through my artworks.”

Come in store to see our range of beautiful Emma Morgan prints!

Read more